One of the most persistent and difficult problems in the elevator industry is the safety of passengers in an elevator that stalls between floors because of a power failure or equipment breakdown. Passengers may become panicky and attempt to open the car door; and in some instances those efforts are successful. This can create a very dangerous condition, because passengers may be injured attempting, for example, to crawl through a space between a floor landing and the top of the elevator car doorway when the car is a few feet below a floor level, or through a small space between the car floor and the top of a hatch entranceway when a car is a few feet above a floor level.
In keeping with present consumerist endeavors to protect the individual even from the consequences of his own folly, some municipalities have now enacted, or are considering, amendments to their elevator codes to require that an elevator car door be locked, so that it cannot be opened from inside the car, whenever the elevator is outside a landing zone. Such requirements have received the endorsement of elevator industry code and safety committees.